Reduced physical activity due to global heating will lead to rise in health issues, study says
By Chloé Farand
- Rising temperatures are making physical activity undesirable and even dangerous in many
- parts of the world, and as global heating worsens, it will further affect how much people are able
- to move.
- Researchers analysed data from 156 countries between 2000 and 2022 and modelled how
- rising temperatures may affect physical activity globally by 2050.
- They found that each additional month with an average temperature above 27.8 ºC would
- increase physical inactivity by an average of 1.5 percentage points globally, with an even higher
- increase of 1.85 points in low and middle-income countries.
- Physical inactivity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, certain
- cancers and mental health disorders, all of which shorten life expectancy, said the study’s lead
- author, Christian García-Witulski, a research fellow at the Lancet Countdown Latin America and
- a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina.
- Reduced physical activity is already a big global health problem and is responsible for an
- estimated 5% of all adult deaths, according to the study, which was published in the Lancet
- Global Health journal. About a third of the world’s population fails to meet World Health
- Organization guidelines for weekly exercise.
- The study projects that the increase in physical inactivity could contribute to about half a
- million additional premature deaths annually and $2.4bn – $3.68bn in productivity losses by
- 2050.
- The biggest increases in inactivity are projected to be in hotter regions such as Central
- America, the Caribbean, eastern sub-Saharan Africa, and equatorial southeast Asia, where
- inactivity could rise by more than four percentage points a month.
- “This is not just a climate story, it is also an inequality story. The places expected to face
- the greatest increases in climate-driven inactivity are often the same places with fewer resources
- to adapt,” said García-Witulski.
- “In settings where people have less access to cooling, fewer safe indoor alternatives, and
- less flexibility in their daily schedules, heat appears more likely to translate into reduced physical
- activity.”
- The model also predicted a bigger increase in inactivity among women, which could reflect
- physiological differences as well as social factors, such as less time and access to cool places for
- exercise, said García-Witulski.
- The findings are modelled projections based on self-reported activity surveys and don’t
- account for other climate impacts such as extreme rainfall, flooding and tropical cyclones.
- The authors say the results show that physical activity should be treated as a
- climate-sensitive public health issue, not just an individual lifestyle choice.
- “Staying active in a warming world depends not only on personal motivation, but also on
- urban design, infrastructure and access to reliable information. In practical terms,
- climate-resilient physical activity policies are those that help people remain active safely even
- under hotter conditions,” said García-Witulski.
- That includes designing cooler cities by expanding the tree cover and shade networks in
- streets and parks, providing affordable air-conditioned places to exercise, and giving clear advice
- on how to stay safe in extreme heat, as well as ambitious emissions reductions.
(Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/16/reduced-physical-activity-dueto-global-heating-rise-health-issues-study – text specially adapted for this test).